Before the War, A.R. was a farmer as was his father before him. He lived in
a large, frame building with 8 rooms and 2 wide halls sitting on a farm of
250 acres. He owned good stock and ran the farm under the labor of 8 slaves.
His father stayed close to home and spent the greater part of his time
keeping the farm with his wife and several servants. A.R. stated that he had
attended "very good country schools, the last years I went to Pulaski and Old
Jackson College, Maury Co."
A.R. enlisted in the Confederate Army on December of 1862 in Cornersville,
Tennessee. He was the Captain of Company E, Holmans 11th Tennessee Cavalry.
After enlistment, his company was sent initially to Columbia, Tennessee.
After only a short time, his company engaged in battle at Fort Donelson. His
command was sent to East Tennessee and held up with Gen. Longstreet around
Knoxville. They proceeded to the Chickamauga / Kinnesaw line - later Hope
Church - and were engaged in all in skirmishes on that line. Later, they
went out with Gen. Johnson, came back with Gen. Hood and stacked arms May 8th
1865 at Gainesville, Ala.
A.R. was captured trying to cross the Tennessee River from Alabama back into
Tennessee after having been wounded (shot in the hand) at Dallas, Georgia, on
June 2, 1864. He was 29 years old at his capture, was imprisoned on Johnson
Island, Ohio until the general surrender and was discharged on the Island.
His men all came home from Gainsville, Alabama.
Andrew "came directly home after the War, went to Nashville, purchased some
old Goverment mules and went to work to get a square meal." His family and
neighbors called him "the Captain" and he proudly wore the Civil War Southern
Cross of the Confederacy (pictured above) until his death. When asked to
describe himself, he stated that he was simply an "Old Presbyterian."
(Gordon, A. R. Pension No. 12838)
